Notre Dame de Paris (Our lady of Paris, meaning the church in Paris dedicated to the Virgin Mary), or commonly known as Notre Dame in English, is a gothic cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in Paris, France, with its main entrance to the west. It is a major tourist destination, and is still used as a Roman Catholic cathedral. Notre Dame of Paris is widely considered to be the finest example of French gothic architecture.
Notre Dame of Paris was one of the first gothic cathedrals ever constructed , and was built throughout the Gothic period. Its sculptures and stained glass show the serious manipulation of naturalism, giving them a more worldly look that was missing from earlier Romanesque designs.
Notre Dame of Paris was among the first buildings in the world to use the flying buttress. The building was not originally designed to include the flying buttresses around the choir and nave. On the other hand, after the construction began and the thinner walls (popularized in the Gothic) grew ever higher, stress factures began to take place as the wall pushed outward. The buttresses were added to prevent further corrosion. For many years, the buttresses were loathed as it was said they looked “like scaffolding” someone had forgotten to remove and gave the cathedral a fragmentary look.
The cathedral exhibits a sculpture of the Virgin Mary which is popular as the Virgin of Paris. Specially made during a time of great wealth by local merchants who saw the cathedral as a resource of civic pride and a symbol of a new economic freedom, the sculpture is renowned for its immoral display and lavishly expensive adornment. While not heretical in subject, some observers have sensed that the sculpture is more of a sign of conceited wealth than piety.
In 1905, the law of separation of Church and State was passed; seeing that all cathedrals built by the kingdom of France, Notre Dame of Paris remains state property, but it its use is granted to the Roman Catholic Church.
There have been rumors about bizarre sightings in the cathedral itself. Some tourists have claimed to have seen apparitions of nuns floating at the ceiling of the cathedral. In addition, several mystics have claimed that the Notre Dame of Paris was made to quarantine many demons that had existed.
Notre Dame of Paris has had an eventful history over the centuries. Crusaders prayed here before leaving on their holy wars and polyphonic music developed in the cathedral. Notre Dame was plundered during the revolution of France, as were a number of other cathedrals all the way through France.
Notre Dame of Paris has long been frequented with many tourists and visitors because of its magnificent gothic structure. No one would want to miss Notre Dane should they come to Paris.
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